Patent holders reach agreement on royalty rates for DVB-H patent pool


31 March 2008

Brussels, March 31, 2008 – Sisvel is pleased to announce that the establishment of a joint licensing program for DVB-H essential patents is well under way among France Telecom, LG Electronics, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, TB Invent, and TDF, all holders of essential patents for DVB-H.

In their continuing efforts to finalize the terms of a joint licensing program, the above patent holders have reached agreement on a number of basic points, including royalty conditions for a license under their essential patents.

A summary of the royalty conditions agreed to by the above patent owners can be found in the attached enclosure. It is worthwhile to note that the rates approved by the patent holders are designed to encourage broad scale adoption of the DVB-H technology in the very near future.

The patent holders will continue their work to finalize a comprehensive agreement among themselves and Sisvel to start the joint licensing of their essential patents as soon as possible. A final agreement is expected before the summer and a DVB-H license for third parties should become available shortly thereafter.

Roberto Dini, founder of Sisvel, commented: “This represents a first crucial step towards the finalization of the DVB-H patent pool made possible thanks to the foresight of a group of committed patent holders willing to compromise on their individual interests in view of the overriding public interest of having certainty about the cost of Intellectual Property essential to implement this innovative technology. This also shows that the patent holders and the facilitator are strongly committed to effectively follow-up on Commissioner Reding’s invitation in this respect.”